


Little Daimon (δαίμων)

by juliabsquared



Category: Lore Olympus (Webcomic)
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-24
Updated: 2019-08-24
Packaged: 2020-09-25 04:31:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20370739
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/juliabsquared/pseuds/juliabsquared
Summary: “I guess... I guess I’ve just never been one of those people who, like… thinks about how their actions will affect others? And it’s taken me until now to realize that’s just a really shitty way to live.”Resolving to make better life choices is one thing. Actually doing the right thing is never that easy.





	Little Daimon (δαίμων)

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first thing I've written in a really long time (and first LO fic ever) so I hope it's good! I have not read Episode 73 yet (as of this posting it's still fastpass-only), but this takes place after that.

The heavy door banged open, letting the familiar sounds of the bar filter into the restroom for just a moment. Campy music, glasses plunking down on tables, the too-loud chatter of the Underworld’s denizens letting loose after the workday. She ignored it all. She wasn’t sure what the patrons entering the ladies’ room must have thought, the chick staring holes in her reflection, giving the mirror a silent pep talk. 

Lately she’d been feeling like some awful little daimon had lodged itself inside her head, constantly pointing out all of her past mistakes. _I don’t care how much you don’t want to, Minthe, you’re doing this. No more arguments. Just say what you rehearsed and then you literally never have to speak to her again. Just one more stupid chore and this exceptionally shitty day can finally be over._

The river nymph touched up her lipstick one last time and strutted out into the crowded bar. She scanned the groups of nymphs and naiads, gods and goddesses, everybody drinking to their heart’s content. Everybody except one.

She was seated at the end of the bar - the pink goddess. She was nursing some high-sugar cocktail and reading a book. _Fuckin’ nerd._ Minthe rolled her eyes so hard her contact lens almost disappeared. That would have been great; she could spend another five minutes waiting in the bathroom while she tried finding it.

With all of the lets-get-this-shit-over with attitude she could muster, Minthe strode over to where Persephone was seated, startling the young goddess up from her book. “What’s your poison?”

Persephone’s eyes widened. “I- Poison?” she stammered, clearly thrown off guard by her boss’s hot assistant actually speaking to her in public, let alone sitting down next to her on the open barstool.

“I mean what are you _drinking_?” Minthe gestured towards the now-empty glass. Gods, this girl was dumb. How to even have a conversation with someone who was raised in the mortal realm?

“Oh.” Persephone’s face softened and she shut her book. “Vodka pomegranate.”

Minthe waived the bartender over. “Can she get another vodka pom? And two shots for me.” She offered her platinum card between two outstretched fingers and paused. “Make it three.”

“Wh-where’s Hades?” Persephone asked, almost appearing casual. 

“Still at the office.” _And not my problem._

The bartender set the two ladies’ drinks down and Minthe waived dismissively at him to start a tab. First things first. She downed one shot and then the other in rapid succession. Once the third was burning its way down her throat she was almost ready to speak, but stopped and held up a thin red finger. One more. She knew this wasn’t the most brilliant idea given what had happened the last time she drank this much, but whatever. _Baby steps,_ she told herself. _Let’s just deal with one bad life choice at a time._ The bartender obliged. She threw back her fourth drink in less than a minute and steeled herself to say the words she loathed the most out of the entire language. 

“I’m sorry.”

***

Persephone wasn’t a big weeknight drinker, but she’d grown to like her after work happy hour routine. After five o’clock she would pack her bag and head to the bar down the block from Tower 1, where Theo, the bartender, always greeted her warmly and poured her regular vodka pomegranate as soon as she sat down. There she usually finished her coursework for tomorrow’s classes, preferring the bar’s white noise to the numbing silence of the apartment. 

Truth be told, Persephone was taking longer and longer each night to make her way back to Olympus. On the train, on the street, even when she walked into the apartment, she dreaded any chance of running into Apollo. She couldn’t face Artemis, had no idea how to even begin the conversation of why his presence in the apartment made Perse so uncomfortable. At least here nobody bothered her. “If you’re sitting at the bar, reading a book, that is like girl code for ‘Do _not_ talk to me,’” Eros has told her, and he turned out to be right. 

She was already halfway through tomorrow’s reading on algebra and statistical models when a sultry voice interrupted her. “What’s your poison?”

Perse looked up and her heart dropped into her feet. Minthe. “I- Poison?” Sweet Gaia, first Tartarus and now this? Was this nymph not even trying to hide her hatred anymore? _Probably not,_ Persephone realized. _She only barely pretends to be nice to me when Hades is around._

She expected the huff and the exaggerated eye roll. She was not surprised at how curtly Minthe ordered Theo around. What she never expected in this millennia or the next, was for Minthe to sit down, order a drink, and _apologize_ to her.

***

Apologies were the _worst_. Minthe had never understood why people acted like you needed to admit your wrongdoing in order to fix it. Either forget about it and move on, or don’t forget about it and just destroy relationships, right? Seemed simple enough. But after what went down with Thetis, and with Hades, she realized that if she wanted to commit to this whole “trying to be a better person” thing, she was going to have to make some actual changes. 

“I’m sorry,” she began, and the words started flowing, rapid and sickening. She would have preferred vomiting up all four drinks. “I’m sorry I got jealous over that picture in the tabloid. I’m sorry I’ve been acting like such a huge bitch to you. And I’m really, _really_ sorry about Tower Four. I swear, I had no idea those shades would come after you. I never meant for you to get hurt, you have to believe me.”

Persephone’s rosy eyes narrowed and flashed magenta. “What are you playing at?” she asked pointedly. “You wouldn’t do anything nice for me.” _You hardly ever do anything nice for your own boyfriend_, she thought, although she managed not to say this part out loud.

“I’m trying to, I don’t know? Be nicer?” Minthe flipped her dark silken hair over her shoulder and began twisting it around over and over. _Why_ was this conversation still happening? “I mean,” she continued, “I don’t like you. I still find you dull as any mortal. But I’m sorry I overreacted and pounced on you the way I did.”

“Thanks.” Persephone’s normally lilting, girlish voice dripped with venomous sarcasm. _This_ was an apology? “Look, I still have a lot of homework left. I don’t really have time to talk right now.” She turned back to her book.

“It’s just - I don’t know how to explain it.” Gods, how much longer would this take before her conscience was cleared? “Why, I mean. Some shit went down and it made me realize that my jealousy wasn’t fair. You never did anything to me on purpose.”

This was too much. Persephone slammed her glass down hard enough to attract Theo’s attention down the bar. “No, Minthe,” she snapped. The red in her eyes was deepening now, her voice shaking in anger. “Let’s make one thing abundantly clear. I never did anything to you _at all_! I just walked into my new internship, _which I just found out about that day_, and the first thing you did was try to get me killed! What kind of hateful, spiteful person does that? And what the actual flying _fuck_ could you have possibly gone through that was worse than what you already did to me? The fucking deadliest shades in the Underworld were about to choke the life out of me, because of your stupid jealousy prank. So if that wasn’t a wake up call to you, what the hell _was_?”

“Well.” Minthe was taken aback. She’d never heard the pink goddess curse. Maybe she wasn’t such a goody-two-shoes flower princess after all. “Basically, I got stabbed in the back. By a friend.” _I thought_. She realized she didn’t know what to call Thetis anymore. Frenemy? Whatever. “I guess... I guess I’ve just never been one of those people who, like… thinks about how their actions will affect others? And it’s taken me until now to realize that’s just a really shitty way to live.”

***

It had started innocently enough. Drinks after work, gods knew she needed one. And she had plenty of time; it was three whole hours before she was supposed to meet Hades for dinner. But happy hour with her best friend never ended with just one drink, especially not when said friend offered to pay the entire tab. Open bar, bitches! One turned to two, then four. Someone paid for a round of tequila shots for everyone, and before long Minthe lost count of the drinks and the time.

She languidly wrapped her arms around Thetis’s shoulders, marveling at her own crimson complexion against the other nymph’s pale body. “I haaave to go soon,” she slurred. “I have to meet my boyfriend for _dinner_.” She hiccuped. Dinner sounded so good. Any food sounded good, actually.

_Boyfriend._ It was such a weird word. “How come… how come I never realized how weird that is?” she mused. “He’s not a boy, he’s a _god_. And we are waayyyy past friends.” She giggled and whispered, “_Way_.” _Weird word._ Weird to be in a relationship. Why? Minthe couldn’t remember. The room spun; the floor seemed worlds away. She wanted… wanted… something, she didn’t know what.

Thetis smiled thinly and ordered a sparkling water. Minthe drank it gratefully. Thetis was such a good friend. At least, that was the last thought Minthe remembered having before she blacked out. Maybe if she hadn’t been so lit, she would have noticed the taste of vodka obscured by bubbles as she drank them down.

***

Minthe had woken up the next morning alone in her apartment, her phone buzzing. Four missed texts.

_Thetis: Heyy, u were rly drunk last night so i just took u home 2 sleep it off. Hope u don’t mind_

Ugh. _What happened?_ She kept scrolling then gasped. “Shit!” _Shit shit shit shit shit._

_Hades: Hey Tadpole, did you want me to pick you up later?_

_Hades: Hey, did I get the time for this wrong?_

_Hades: If you don’t want to come anymore, it’s fine. Just let me know._

Fuck. 

Minthe dressed in a hurry, ran a brush through her hair, and dashed out the door to work. She managed to make it to her desk just in time to see Hades entering the office. “Morning,” she called out, trying not to sound as hungover as she felt. He didn’t respond, although to be fair he looked in just as bad shape as her. She followed him to his office, knocking on the door frame.

“Minthe,” he said by way of greeting.

“I can explain,” she stammered out, “I am so sorry, I never meant to stand you up-”

He held up a hand to stop her. “I don’t have time for this right now,” he said cooly. “I’m in meetings all day. This will have to wait until after work.”

Defeated, she slunk back to her desk and slid into her chair, resting her forehead on the cool surface of her keyboard. Thetis had done this on purpose. Why? She remembered last night, the thin half-smile at the words “god” and “boyfriend.” Her eyes snapped open as she realized. Jealousy. Minthe had something Thetis never would. _Her_ god would never be more than an affair, just kinky office sex with her boss behind closed doors, while he continued to rule over the gods, married to their queen. Minthe was the girlfriend, while Thetis would only ever be the side piece. She wasn’t jealous of Hades. She was angry that Minthe had something she didn’t and so she wanted to take that away like a spoiled child takes a toy from her sister.

_Isn’t that the same thing you did with Persephone?_ The thought crept into her mind, intrusive and unwanted. Her daimon always picked literally the worst times to make its presence known. 

_No_, she told herself. _That was different. Like I get it, Hades and I weren’t in a committed relationship or anything. But he was still supposed to be mine. _

_Was he though?_ the daimon murmured. _You didn’t want to be with him at all until you saw him with someone else. You were ready to break it off the minute you saw that ring. _

_Because I panicked! I didn’t want to be queen! I hate his whole family! Not him. _

_But did you love him?_ The daimon’s voice was barely a whisper now. _Do you?_

Fates, she did not have the mental energy to unpack that question. _It wasn’t about him_, she told the daimon. _It was about me. _

_Then I think you know what you should do. _

***

Persephone took another sip of her drink, mulling over what Minthe had just told her. So the river nymph from hell had a heart. Or at least was trying to grow one. _Maybe I misjudged her_, Persephone thought. _Maybe we both misjudged each other. I saw how she bristled when Hades paid me even the slightest bit of attention. Did she seriously think I was like, out to steal her man or something?_ What a ridiculous concept. Gradually she felt the heat in her eyes disappear, leaving them rosy pink once more. The angry thorns that had sprouted in her hair dried up and fell to the floor. “This doesn’t make anything you did okay. I won’t say I forgive you for Tartarus. Or even for being such a huge bitch. But,” she continued, “if you’re really serious and you want a fresh start, I guess I’m okay with that.”

Minthe looked relieved. “For what it’s worth, I don’t think you were in any real danger in Tartarus.” Perse felt the thorns growing back in her hair until Minthe quickly added, “I just mean, with what you did. You seemed like you could handle yourself pretty well there.”

“Our boss literally had to fly over there any save me.” Her face flushed with embarrassment and something else she preferred not to think about right now. 

“Gurl, please.” Minthe laid a scarlet hand on her arm. Perse recoiled at the touch of someone who definitely hated her guts until apparently five minutes ago. “Gurl,” Minthe repeated, rolling out the word on her tongue. Persephone realized those four shots had probably hit Minthe pretty hard by now. But the nymph continued, “you made a forest. Like a whole fucking _forest_. Trees and flowers and shit and everything, where nothing is supposed to be able to live, like, _ever_. That’s actually pretty impressive.”

Persephone wasn’t done. “I’m warning you now, though. Pull anything like that ever again and I will not hesitate to turn you into, like, a plant or something.” At Minthe’s puzzled expression, she laughed. “I’m kidding! I don’t even know how to turn someone into a plant.” _Not yet, anyways. But we’ll see how this plays out. _

***

By quarter to five, Minthe couldn’t take it anymore. Her stomach was churning, more from anxiety than the residual alcohol still in her system. Why did nobody warn her that doing the right thing _sucks_?

She switched off her computer and walked into Hades’ office. It was empty. Tentatively, she crossed the room to the shelves behind his desk, looking at the neat rows of books and files, the stack of paperwork on the desk, the glass jar full of expensive pens.

One of the desk drawers was open halfway, and Minthe glanced at a plain envelope with a name scrawled across. She recognized Hades’ precise handwriting, _Persephone_. Minthe huffed, irritated again, but quickly shut the drawer as she heard footsteps in the hallway.

“Tadpole?” Minthe looked up to see Hades standing in the doorway. “I’m sorry I snapped at you this morning. It’s just-”

“We need to talk,” she blurted out. “I know I said I was sorry for standing you up, and I am, but the truth is…” She twisted her hair over and over around her finger, unsure of what exactly to do with her hands. “I think we should break up.” _There, I said it_, she thought. _Can I go now?_

“I don’t understand.” Confusion clouded his features. “I thought this was what you wanted? Two nights ago you were standing outside my house, crying.”

“It was! I mean, I think I wanted it. I think it was what I thought I wanted.” _This is a trainwreck._ “Whatever we had, it wasn’t what a relationship should be, but I still wasn’t ready to let it go. But I think I am now.” Minthe searched his face for clues as to what he was thinking. She saw disappointment, frustration, and was that… relief? Maybe he felt the same way and this conversation wouldn’t be quite so horribly uncomfortable. Still, the words leaving her mouth tasted like bile. She spoke faster to try and get it all out and be done with it. “It’s just… for so long, I’ve wanted you for all the wrong reasons. I was insecure, and somehow putting you down made me feel less shitty about myself. And when I saw you paying so much attention to that new girl, I got jealous. It felt like I was losing a game that only existed in my own head. Until I realized,” she gestured back and forth between her and Hades, “we were both losing. There are no winners here. There haven’t been for a while now.”

Hades nodded. His jaw clenched and for a minute he seemed unsure of what to say, until finally he spoke. “I see. Well, thank you for telling me the truth. And I hope we can both maintain a professional work environment, for both our sakes and for everyone else in this office.”

_Especially Persephone_. He didn’t say it out loud but Minthe knew. “I took our one-on-one meeting off your calendar,” she offered. “And I think I left some stuff at your place but you can just give it to me whenever.” She brushed past him to leave, glad the second worst conversation she would be having that day was over.  
“Minthe, wait.” Hades put out an arm to stop her and for a moment she held her breath. Did he want to stay with her? “For what it’s worth, I think you’re right. I’ve dealt with insecurities too, and guilt, but I wasn’t committing to this for the right reasons. And I’m glad you had the guts to say something first.”

Minthe made a face. “Talking about my feelings is gross and I never want to mention this conversation again."

“Right there with you.” He gave her a dry smile and turned back to his desk. “See you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow, boss.”

***

Minthe flagged down Theo the bartender to pay her bill. “I should probably be going. I’ll leave you to your…” She eyed the cover of Persephone’s book. “_Pythagoras’ Theorem and Advanced Algebraic Concepts_.” She slid herself down from the barstool, swaying as her feet hit the floor.

“Are you sure you’re okay to drive home?” Persephone asked her. “Do you need a ride? I can call Hades.” _Just what this evening needs, she thought, more awkwardness._

“I, um…” Minthe bit her lip and cast her eyes downward. “We broke up.”

“Oh!” Persephone tried as hard as she could to keep her voice neutral. “I’m… sorry to hear that. But I still think I should get you a ride home. Here, let me call you a cab.” 

_This doesn’t mean anything_, Perse told herself. _Just because they broke up doesn’t mean he likes you. Just like how it didn’t mean anything when he was just being nice. Besides, it’s not like you could be with him anyway. You have your scholarship, remember?_

The cab pulled up outside and Minthe walked to the door, then turned back suddenly. She hadn’t wanted to give the pink goddess any ideas, but her daimon was prodding her to give one more confession. Maybe doing the right thing was a lot like tossing back shots of cheap liquor, she realized. After a while, the words didn’t choke in the back of her throat or burn in her stomach anymore. She could build up a tolerance for being nice. “He likes you, you know.”

“What- Who?”

_Gods._ “Hades!

Persephone’s heart skipped several beats. “How do you know that?”

Minthe shrugged. “I’ve seen how he looks at you. That day in Tartarus, we were all in the conference room and saw the security footage. He practically had a heart attack and then dashed off to rescue you. And when he found you, I don’t know. I’ve never seen him look so relieved.” She didn’t mention seeing the letter in his desk, addressed to Persephone. _It’s not like I read it anyways. For all I know it’s just a work thing._ But deep down she didn’t believe that for a second. 

Persephone waved goodbye as Minthe left the bar. Was she right, did Hades have feelings for her? For all Perse knew this was another trick meant to humiliate her. But she couldn’t help it; her face flushed again and a tangle of roses bloomed in her hair. She would have to wait and see about Hades. In the meantime, she would just continue enjoying the sight of his dorky face and maybe, just maybe, having one less adversary in her life to worry about.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I admit I really, REALLY dislike Minthe but I wanted to write something a little different, i.e. beginning of a redemption arc for her. The ancient Greek concept of daimons sometimes referred to sort of a divine power/guiding spirit, so that was how I chose to personify her conscience during all the internal monologues. Also, I'm just dying for Minthe and Hades to break up, so there's that.


End file.
